President: Launch of Eco Bags Production Significant Boost for Horehronie Area

Brezno, 23 May (TASR) - The permanent production of paper shopping bags has been launched in the Brezno-based plant of Harmanec-Kuvert (Banska Bystrica region) on Friday, TASR has learnt on the same day. President Peter Pellegrini, who attended the opening ceremony of the new production line, stated that this is a significant boost for the hard-pressed Horehronie area, where every new job is in demand. Head of a company called ECO-INVESTMENT Milan Filo stated that the total investment costs amounted to around €30 million. The company plans to produce this year 300 million pieces of ecological paper bags. He also announced further investments, which guarantee that the company in Brezno will continue to create new jobs. "I've been to this factory several times and I've always witnessed its further development. Every hundred new jobs means a hundred happy families who don't have to leave this place and travel for work. I appreciate that the production programme can respond to changes in the world. Whereas a few years ago it was like the envelope manufacturing capital of Europe, the factory and its owners have been able to change the production programme immediately in a significant way as the demand for paper envelopes has fallen notably and the demand for eco-friendly paper bags is growing. This is evidence of good management," stressed Pellegrini. The head of state highlighted that the factory uses 80 percent recyclable raw materials and that the company has its own photovoltaic power plant and produces its own energy. He described the Harmanec-Kuvert plant in Brezno as a 21st-century factory that is responsible to the environment and its employees. am